Notes for a sermon that I preached yesterday at Covenant Reformed Fellowship in Greeley, Colorado:
"Put Away the Foreign Gods"
Text: Joshua 24:14-28
Introduction: The historical situation: the people had come out of Egypt, passed through the wilderness, conquered the land under Joshua, and settled in their territories. Here Joshua gives them a farewell address and renews the covenant between the Lord and the people before his death.
In many ways, you are like the people that Joshua addressed. God has redeemed you from this present evil age and set you apart for Himself as a holy people, just as He ransomed His people from Israel and brought them out to be His own. Just as they were led to conquest and settled triumphantly in a promised land under Joshua, you also have been led to victory and prosperity in a new life under One who also bears Joshua's name--Jesus, "The Lord Is Salvation." So Joshua's message is one that applies to you today, as well. That day Israel heard a message from their commander and captain, but you today are gathered to hear the words of the Commander of the Lord's Army, who is Christ Himself.
Joshua's call to the people: serve the Lord, not the gods your fathers served and not the gods of the pagans in the land where you are living (vv. 14-15). It is hard to serve the Lord, but this is your choice and your duty as the people of God; this is your life!
I. The false gods of the fathers: Proud individualism
The conquest and settlement of America: Strong and hardy individuals, alone or in small groups, pioneers and frontiersmen--John Smith in Jamestown; the Pilgrims; Daniel Boone; Davy Crockett; cf. the myths of Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed. "The American dream"--self-made men rising out of poverty by their own hard work and determination. This is what we honor and seek to imitate. We like to set out on our own, wanting to make a life for ourselves, and thinking that we are right by belonging to our own little subgroup with our own preferences and characteristics, within the great American market of individual preferences.
Even in the Church, we think of the courageous individuals who stand against the current of their time--Abraham setting forth to go to Canaan, Augustine standing against the heretic Pelagius, Martin Luther opposing the evils of the Roman Catholicism of his day, George Whitefield traveling and preaching. We forget that each of them had a household, a group of companions, or a Church body that surrounded them and gave them much of their strength. And we forget those who served God as united groups, which is normally His way—-the children of Israel setting forth in faith from Egypt, six hundred thousand men on foot; the company of the prophets who surrounded Samuel and prophesied together with him; the twelve apostles standing together to preach Christ in the midst of one hundred twenty assembled brothers, and the thousands who soon joined with them; and the churches that gathered together to listen to the preaching of Paul, of Chrysostom, of Ambrose, of John Calvin and the other Reformers. The Lord works through individual people, but He does so not to exalt them in themselves, but to build them together into a united body.
Romans 14:7-8; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 12:4-5
Modern families think nothing of living far apart and having independent lives; husband and wife each make a career for themselves, and children (if there are any) recede into the background; people choose the church that best suits their own needs and preferences, even if they have to drive past ten other churches to get to it.
Families, churches, and social gatherings are seen (wrongly!) as assemblies of individuals, rather than cohesive bodies with diverse but interdependent "members."
II. The false gods of the fathers: Legalism
Part of the basic orientation of the proud, sinful human heart: self-salvation through conformity to clearly marked-out rules. But eternal life is knowing God, not doing some thing or following a list of do's and don'ts. John 17:3; Mark 10:17—-like the Pharisees, this young man who approached Jesus had good deeds on the surface, but a heart that was in rebellion against God underneath.
Galatians 2:16--justification is not by works of law, but by trusting in a Person. The life that God has established is not mechanical, but personal; not a system that runs smoothly when its laws are obeyed, but a family held together by bonds of love and trust.
The rules that are established as if to keep you from the slavery of sin, only bring you into a new slavery while having no power to take away sin: Colossians 2:20-23.
Rules that often appear in churches: Don't drink alcohol, don't smoke, don't dance, don't play cards, women don't wear pants, etc. Or the "new legalisms": do you have an automatic negative reaction to a married woman having a job (even part-time) outside the home? Christian parents sending their children to school rather than home-schooling them? Children living at a distance from their parents? (Of course, there is a certain wisdom involved as you make your own choices about these things, but don't make them a club to beat others with. Don't take ways to life and turn them into a way of death!)
Critically compare the standards you use to evaluate others, against the ones you use for yourself. You won't get away with being too easy on yourself, having a double standard! Matthew 7:1-3.
III. The false gods of the land: American nationalism
The prophets warned the people repeatedly that merely living in Israel, or Judah, guaranteed nothing. It is bad enough when people merely trust their membership in the Church for salvation despite the open rebellion that appears in their life. How much worse when a dim memory of America as a "Christian nation" justifies everything done by American rulers and citizens! Jeremiah 7:1-15. If Judah, the holy people of God, had no guarantee of physical security, how much less does America have any such guarantee!
A sign of secular political idolatry in the U.S.: George W. Bush's second inaugural address, which has been said to give a "messianic" role to American political/military power around the world. Consider these quotes:
"There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom."
“We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right."
"We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom. Not because history runs on the wheels of inevitability; it is human choices that move events. Not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation; God moves and chooses as He wills. We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul."
Christ's principle (Luke 20:20-25): Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. A penny has an image of Lincoln, and a dollar bill of Washington: presidents of a secular country, in which we still live. But you bear the image of God. Give to Him what is His.
IV. The false gods of the land: Spontaneity
This idol is nourished and built up by the individualism that we have inherited from our fathers. If what matters is myself and my preferences, then my choices at any moment are valid and I do not need to submit myself to any outside discipline.
Hebrews 5:14—-the need to grow to maturity as Christians, not remain infants spiritually!
Jeremiah 6:16—walk in the old paths. In worship, in family life, in theology, in personal holiness, we need to acknowledge the truth that the eternal God builds up good things through the steady growth of many years. Like Jonah's vine, what springs up overnight often withers overnight. Abraham had to wait twenty-five years to receive Isaac, and by then he was justified and renamed, settled in the land, and ready to obtain the long-awaited promise. But he gave in to the temptation to lose patience and bring about the promised good immediately, the result was Ishmael—a plague and a grief to the people of God from that day until the present.
Don't expect yourself, your family, your church, to reach its full glory in a day or a year. Constantly keep building, patiently, in faith, toward the promised outcome.
Conclusion: Serving the Lord (review of Joshua 24:14-28)
It is not easy to serve the Lord. He permits no compromises, no half-hearted efforts. You cannot remain divided between Him and another master.
You have come here today to gather with His people, to confess your sins to Him and receive His pardon, to hear His Word preached, to eat and drink at His table. You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve Him! And you are witnesses for one another, as well--not to destroy, but to build up, to encourage and to strengthen one another to continue serving the Lord.
Monday, July 30, 2007
"Put Away the Foreign Gods"
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Dead in Afghanistan: Rev. Bae Hyung-kyu (1965-2007)
Korean and other news sources are reporting that the Korean volunteer worker killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday was Bae Hyung-kyu, a pastor and co-founder of Saemmul Presbyterian Church. Rev. Bae was killed on his forty-second birthday.
A friend, Pastor Park Won-hi, recalled, "I still vividly remember Hyung-kyu saving a life by dissuading a young man from attempting suicide while he was doing volunteer work at a library.... As part of his nature, he liked helping others...and he just could not pass by without helping others in need."
Rev. Bae had been the leader of the group of 23 Koreans who traveled to Afghanistan to provide free medical care and were taken hostage by Taliban rebels. He left behind a wife and a nine-year-old daughter, as well as many grieving parishioners.
"When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, 'How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?' Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. " -Revelation 6:9-11
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
One Korean hostage murdered, eight released
Earlier today, one of the South Korean Christians being held hostage by the Taliban was found dead with ten bullet holes in his body. Just as throughout much of this ordeal, there were conflicting stories about the reason for his death. Self-proclaimed Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi stated that the man was killed because Taliban demands to release other fighters from prison had not been met. But an anonymous source said the Korean was shot because he was sick and couldn't keep up with the others.
Meanwhile, eight of the hostages--six women and two men--were released to the main U.S. base in Ghazni province. That leaves twelve women and two men still being held captive out of the original group of 23 Koreans kidnapped last Friday.
Pray for courage and peace for these sisters and brothers of ours. They came to Afghanistan to serve the people in the love of Christ, and for this they have been made to suffer. Pray also for a German and five Afghans who are being held hostage in similar circumstances. One German from the original group has already died.
(Source: Bullet-riddled body of S. Korean hostage found [AP/MSNBC].)
Monday, July 23, 2007
23 Korean Christians held hostage in Afghanistan
Taliban personnel announced on Monday that they will wait until Tuesday evening before they begin killing 23 South Korean hostages in Afghanistan. The Koreans, Christians on a brief visit to Afghanistan to do charitable work, were kidnapped in Ghazni province on Friday.
The hostages are members of Saemmul Community Church in Bundang (just south of Seoul) and had come to Afghanistan intending to volunteer in hospitals and kindergartens from July 13 to July 23. Initial reports said that the Taliban were holding them hostage and would begin killing them if South Korea did not recall the 210 troops it has currently serving in Afghanistan. However, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said on Saturday that the hostages themselves were guilty of carrying out illegal "missionary activities." He added, "Afghanistan is an Islamic republic where conversion from Islam or attempting to convert Muslims is regarded as a serious crime in several areas."
The South Korean government is negotiating with the Taliban to free the hostages. Meanwhile, the Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo criticized Korean missionary efforts in an editorial, arguing, "It is simply futile for Koreans to engage in missionary or other religious activities in a country like Afghanistan, which has a history of deep hatred toward Christianity and is wracked by gunfights, kidnappings and suicide bombings.... Religious groups should realize once and for all that dangerous missionary and volunteer activities in Islamic countries including Afghanistan not only harm Korea's national objectives, but also put other Koreans under a tremendous amount of duress." But the victims' pastor, Rev. Bang Young-gyun, denied that his parishioners' activities in Afghanistan had been "missionary works." He announced that any of his church's humanitarian projects that were "unwanted" by Afghans would be suspended, and those working in such programs would be returned home to Korea.
Other sources: Taliban extend hostage deadline (Al Jazeera), 18 Koreans kidnapped in Afghanistan (AP), South Korean kidnap victims' church halts some volunteer work in Afghanistan (International Herald Tribune).
Saturday, July 21, 2007
The symbols and the Reality
What do the following sentences mean?
"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.... That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world." -John 1:4, 9
"Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.'" -John 6:32
"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser." -John 15:1
"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her... 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This is a great mystery, but I am speaking concerning Christ and the church." -Ephesians 5:25, 31-32
There are other lights, and there is the true Light. Moses is not the giver of bread from heaven, because the true Bread is the Son of Man, and He is also the true Vine. Becoming one flesh is a great mystery, and the true subject of that mystery is Christ and the church.
He is the true Light; what then, in this world, is light? It is that which is like Him in His brightness.
He is the true Bread. By what right, then, do we call this baked stuff bread? Because it imitates the One who is truly Bread: this comes down from heaven and mingles with that which is on earth, it springs up only to be plucked and crushed, but finally emerges from fire and darkness to become life and strength to the world. (It is "bread" because it always relives the history of the true Bread.)
He is the true Vine. How dare we call these humble plants by His name? Because in their own way they too are His disciples: they pour their own life into fruit and offer it to sustain, to refresh, to make hearts glad.
The "great mystery" of marriage is a mystery about Christ and the church. What do the groom and the bride in each earthbound little wedding have to do with such cosmic glories? He is Christ to her, and she is Church to him. The one true Husband condescends to let this man fill His role, and opposite them both the Church offers Her place to this woman.
Again, He is the true Light. Whatever else is called "light" has its name not of itself, but by His courtesy. To speak of "light" is to use a metaphor--as if the brightness of a lamp, or of the sun, were itself the Eternal! Likewise with bread, vine, husband: we call these things by His names, and it makes sense, because in their various ways they remind us of Him.
But even so, is it really that simple? No! "Light" is not merely a symbol of Him, as we understand symbols. When the sun shines on us, He Himself is shining on us. When we eat and drink, it is His own life in the form of bread and wine that comes into us, that conveys His own strength to our muscles and bones. At the wedding, He (the Head) is Himself in him, and She (the Body) is Herself in her. "In Him all things consist."
All of what we call "light" is nothing other than the shining of the True Light. "Bread," "vine," "marriage": it is He at the center of each of them that makes them what they are.
"Bread" that was not saturated with His presence would not be bread. But then, "bread" that was not saturated with His presence would not even be.
Friday, July 20, 2007
What's wrong with this picture?
A court in the Romanian city of Timişoara has dismissed a lawsuit against God. The judges decided that God is not subject to civil law and, in addition, does not have an address where the court could locate him.
A prison inmate serving a 20-year sentence for murder had filed suit against "the person known as God, resident in heaven and represented on earth by the Orthodox Church," and charged him with "fraud, breach of trust, corruption, and abuse of power." According to the plaintiff, at his baptism he had made a contract with the defendant by which the latter was required to protect him from any kind of misfortune. However, God had never fulfilled any of his contractual obligations, despite the many offerings and prayers made to him by the plaintiff.
(Source: Lenta.ru News via a friend of a friend in Ukraine.)
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Saved from fire
This morning at my house, we narrowly avoided having the whole kitchen catch on fire. Thanks to God for His protection!
The wiring above one of the ceiling lights shorted out some time after midnight and had steadily been getting hotter and hotter ever since. By the time we called the fire department, already some of the glass in the light bulb was melted, the wiring was blackened for several feet around, and the ceiling was scorched. The small space above that old ceiling was packed with dry wood chips used as insulation; they probably would have already gone up in flames if it hadn't been for the lack of oxygen in that enclosed area.
The top picture shows the kitchen ceiling after the firefighters broke it up and sprayed it to put us out of danger. The one below is the stove and counter after they were done.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Missionary to Russia comes to Moscow
Tomorrow (Wednesday) evening at 7:30, Blake Purcell will be giving a presentation at the Nuart Theater (Moscow, ID) about his ministry in Russia. Blake is a missionary, pastor, and seminary rector who has been serving in Russia since 1990 along with his wife Cathy and their children. First with The Navigators and later with the Reformed Presbyterian Church of St. Petersburg and the Biblical Theological Seminary, he has been involved in evangelism, church planting, and training of Christian leaders.
If you're in Moscow, come by to hear Blake speak about his ministry and provide further information on it.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Christians and heretics
A post by Evan Wilson, along with the ensuing discussion on his website, raises several questions about how different "kinds" of professing Christians ought to relate to one another.
Operation World, the excellent guide to praying for the nations of the world, takes a "lowest common denominator" approach to defining a Christian. Because any other approach would involve them in too many complications, they include as "Christians" all groups that call themselves Christians. (They use the same strategy in categorizing Muslims, Buddhists, etc.) This means that Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists, syncretistic African and South Pacific churches, non-denominationals, and other groups are all lumped in together with Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons under the umbrella term of "Christian." Detailed information is also given to help sort out all these groups so that readers can determine for themselves just how Christian each subgroup really is.
The opposite approach is taken by some in a variety of different denominational and theological traditions. These people hesitate to call anyone a real Christian except those who agree with them on all the key points of theology, or at least of the "Gospel." But depending on who you ask, the key points may be many: the Trinity, the nature of Christ as God-man, predestination and free will, justification by faith, the authority of the Bible, the weight of tradition, the Sacraments (whether or not by that name), the definition and seriousness of sin, the nature of the covenant(s), eschatology, and the list goes on.
Here's a first step toward resolving this problem: True Christian faith is ultimately defined not by what you believe, but in Whom. The Lord Jesus rejoices to answer the honest prayer, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24).
In memoriam: Father Ragheed Ganni (1972-2007)
"The blood of Christians is seed." --Tertullian (c. 160-230), Apologeticum, ch. 50.
Tertullian's famous words (often repeated in the form "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church") are as true today as they were when he wrote them eighteen centuries ago. Faithful witnesses for Christ have been forced to water the earth with their blood in every age of history, only for the Church to spring up stronger than ever and triumph over her persecutors.
Ragheed Ganni, a Chaldean Catholic priest, was born in Mosul, Iraq (ancient Nineveh), and educated in Iraq and Italy. After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, although Father Ganni could have stayed safely in Europe, he chose to return to Mosul (which was by then ranked as the second most dangerous city in Iraq) to become the pastor of Holy Spirit Church. There he set up theology courses for his congregation and devoted himself to working with young people and poor families.
After each terrorist attack, Father Ganni knew it was only a matter of time before the next one came. When bullets were fired into his church during Palm Sunday worship earlier this year, he wrote, "We empathize with Christ, who entered Jerusalem in full knowledge that the consequence of his love for mankind was the cross. Thus while bullets smashed our church windows, we offered our suffering as a sign of love for Christ." He later said, "Christ challenges evil with his infinite love, he keeps us united and through the Eucharist he gives us life, which the terrorists are trying to take away." Father Ganni kept encouraging his people to have hope in God for a better future: "It is our duty not to give in to despair: God will listen to our prayers for peace in Iraq."
On Sunday, June 3, just after he had celebrated an evening Mass, Father Ganni was seized, dragged away, and murdered, together with three of his subdeacons. The killers then surrounded the bodies with explosives to delay those who wanted to retrieve them and give them a proper burial.
Ragheed Ganni is dead, but his blood and the blood of his fellow servants of Christ is the seed from which the Church in Iraq will spring forth to greater life. May all those who love his Lord give thanks for him, and pray that peace and hope will truly come to his beloved Iraq.
(Sources: Sandro Magister in Chiesa, BreakPoint with Chuck Colson.)
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Theme
JOHN 10:7-16
Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd."
The Lord Jesus is the one true Shepherd; all who know Him and are known by Him are His sheep. Christendom is filled with conflicting denominations, theologies, movements, and perspectives, but He is one, and so His flock must be one.
Jesus is at work in the world through His Spirit until this very day--gathering and purifying His flock, healing the broken, retrieving the strays, reconciling the separated, and driving out the wolves. He will continue to do so until the Last Day. At that time His flock will appear in all its glory, visibly and triumphantly one, one flock under one shepherd.
This site is devoted to the one true Shepherd of the sheep, and to His flock which is one, no matter how much it seems to be divided at the present time. I will be considering a wide range of subjects and may write about more personal things at times, but the central theme will continue to be Jesus Christ the Shepherd and the Church, His flock. May the Lord be honored and the Church built up by the things recorded here.
